Journal rankings · indicator year 2016
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2016
Political Science and International Relations journal rankings 2016
308 ranked journals · Subfield in Social Sciences
Political Science and International Relations has 308 ranked journals in 2016. The median OJR rose 0.09 on 2015 to 1.92, above the world average of 1.00; Q1 starts at OJR 3.52. The top three are American Journal of Political Science, Government Information Quarterly, and American Political Science Review.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2016. Journal access status and listed APC: source snapshot September 23, 2026.
Journals whose main subfield sits in this category and that published at least 30 citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) in 2013–2015, the window the 2016 score is computed on.
The OpenJournalRank Indicator (OJR) is a free, publicly available metric of a journal’s field-normalized citation impact, computed from open OpenAlex citation data. It compares citations to a journal’s papers from the previous three years with the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and values can be compared across fields. It is computed with the NCI3 method.
The middle OJR among ranked journals in this category: half score higher, half lower. 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type.
The dot is this category, the solid tick is the median of all ranked journals and the dashed line is the world average.
Share of ranked journals in this category that are fully open access, so every paper is free to read. Hybrid journals, which sell subscriptions and open single papers for a fee, are not counted.
Median list price of the article processing charge, in US dollars, among ranked journals in this category that list a price above zero. Journals with a listed APC of $0 and journals with no known price are left out of this median. The At a glance table below gives a second median that includes the $0 prices.
Subfields of Social Sciences (22)
308 ranked journals
Filters
Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest. | OJR is field-normalized 3-year citation impact: 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so values compare across fields. The badge is the journal’s quartile in this list. | Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is not field-normalized, so compare it only between journals of the same field. ▲ or ▼ is the change from 2015. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2013–2015, the window the 2016 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2013–2015 papers that are free to read in any open-access form. The green OA tag next to a title marks a fully open-access journal. | List price of the article processing charge in US dollars. “$0 listed” means the listed price is zero; a dash means no price is listed. | The line is the journal’s OJR from 2007 to 2016. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1American Journal of Political ScienceWiley · United States | 15.10Q1 | 5.24 0.86 down from 2015 | 244 | 27% | $4,100 | ||
2Government Information QuarterlyElsevier BV · United States | 12.04Q1 | 5.91 0.28 down from 2015 | 202 | 30% | $4,360 | ||
3American Political Science ReviewCambridge University Press · United States | 10.94Q1 | 3.69 0.69 down from 2015 | 172 | 35% | $3,550 | ||
4International SecurityThe MIT Press · United States | 10.86Q1 | 3.35 0.37 down from 2015 | 75 | 13% | — | ||
5Journal of European Public PolicyRoutledge · United Kingdom | 10.35Q1 | 3.71 0.28 up from 2015 | 292 | 51% | — | ||
6European Journal of International RelationsSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 10.25Q1 | 3.07 0.53 down from 2015 | 122 | 45% | $3,900 | ||
7Comparative Political StudiesSAGE Publishing · United States | 9.13Q1 | 3.35 0.28 down from 2015 | 168 | 27% | $3,900 | ||
8European Journal of Political ResearchOAWiley · United Kingdom | 9.06Q1 | 2.80 0.84 down from 2015 | 117 | 43% | $3,550 | ||
9South European Society & PoliticsTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 8.94Q1 | 4.00 1.11 up from 2015 | 85 | 37% | — | ||
10Journal of Education PolicyTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 8.93Q1 | 2.92 0.46 down from 2015 | 169 | 39% | — | ||
11West European PoliticsTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 8.45Q1 | 3.11 0.84 up from 2015 | 311 | 41% | — | ||
12Quarterly Journal of Political ScienceNow Publishers · United States | 7.71Q1 | 2.59 0.31 down from 2015 | 47 | 18% | — | ||
13Journal of European IntegrationTaylor & Francis · Netherlands | 7.39Q1 | 2.29 0.22 down from 2015 | 143 | 33% | — | ||
14Policy Studies JournalWiley · United States | 7.24Q1 | 3.93 0.21 up from 2015 | 122 | 29% | $4,050 | ||
15European Union PoliticsSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 7.13Q1 | 2.52 0.41 up from 2015 | 85 | 28% | $3,650 | ||
16Political AnalysisCambridge University Press · United States | 7.04Q1 | 2.94 1.05 down from 2015 | 137 | 34% | $3,550 | ||
17Journal of European Social PolicySAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 6.95Q1 | 2.86 0.04 down from 2015 | 101 | 34% | $3,650 | ||
18JCMS Journal of Common Market StudiesWiley · United Kingdom | 6.85Q1 | 2.57 0.07 down from 2015 | 311 | 28% | $4,170 | ||
19Journal of democracyJohns Hopkins University Press · United States | 6.79Q1 | 2.04 0.09 up from 2015 | 215 | 5% | — | ||
20The Chinese Journal of International PoliticsOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 6.77Q1 | 2.44 0.61 up from 2015 | 47 | 11% | $3,981 | ||
21British Journal of Political ScienceOACambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 6.56Q1 | 2.22 0.19 down from 2015 | 184 | 52% | $3,550 | ||
22GovernanceWiley · United Kingdom | 6.53Q1 | 2.64 0.82 down from 2015 | 120 | 23% | $3,730 | ||
23The Journal of PoliticsUniversity of Chicago Press · United States | 6.36Q1 | 2.18 0.06 down from 2015 | 338 | 16% | — | ||
24Philosophy & Public AffairsWiley · United States | 6.10Q1 | 1.39 0.93 down from 2015 | 44 | 31% | $3,460 | ||
25Comparative EducationTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 5.99Q1 | 1.89 0.19 up from 2015 | 112 | 36% | — | ||
26Journal of Political PhilosophyWiley · United Kingdom | 5.98Q1 | 2.08 0.89 up from 2015 | 70 | 29% | $4,030 | ||
27Higher EducationSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 5.76Q1 | 2.59 0.59 up from 2015 | 351 | 35% | $2,290 | ||
28Acta PoliticaPalgrave Macmillan · United Kingdom | 5.76Q1 | 2.58 1.40 up from 2015 | 101 | 35% | $3,190 | ||
29DemocratizationTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 5.73Q1 | 2.25 0.54 up from 2015 | 194 | 15% | — | ||
30International TheoryOACambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 5.49Q1 | 2.72 0.93 up from 2015 | 94 | 56% | $3,550 | ||
31Global Responsibility to ProtectBrill · Netherlands | 5.47Q1 | 1.10 0.73 down from 2015 | 59 | 4% | — | ||
32Journal of Elections Public Opinion and PartiesTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 5.24Q1 | 1.88 0.20 up from 2015 | 78 | 34% | — | ||
33Political BehaviorSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 5.21Q1 | 2.18 0.06 down from 2015 | 106 | 20% | $2,990 | ||
34Comparative European PoliticsPalgrave Macmillan · United Kingdom | 5.19Q1 | 1.70 0.38 down from 2015 | 128 | 31% | $3,290 | ||
35Political Science Research and MethodsOACambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 5.09Q1 | 1.84 0.82 down from 2015 | 150 | 48% | $3,550 | ||
36British Yearbook of International LawOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 5.09Q1 | 2.02 1.95 up from 2015 | 67 | — | $4,533 | ||
37Security StudiesTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 5.07Q1 | 1.66 0.10 down from 2015 | 84 | 6% | — | ||
38The China QuarterlyCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 5.04Q1 | 2.10 0.43 up from 2015 | 163 | 35% | $3,550 | ||
39Higher Education QuarterlyWiley · United Kingdom | 5.01Q1 | 1.96 0.20 down from 2015 | 72 | 37% | $2,900 | ||
40Political StudiesSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 4.96Q1 | 2.00 0.17 up from 2015 | 228 | 42% | $3,650 | ||
41Party PoliticsSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 4.95Q1 | 1.41 0.09 up from 2015 | 218 | 20% | $3,650 | ||
42Policy & PoliticsPolicy Press · United Kingdom | 4.88Q1 | 2.51 0.09 up from 2015 | 131 | 49% | — | ||
43Territory Politics GovernanceTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 4.79Q1 | 1.70 1.25 down from 2015 | 66 | 54% | — | ||
44Electoral StudiesElsevier BV · Netherlands | 4.72Q1 | 1.44 0.40 down from 2015 | 385 | 25% | $2,840 | ||
45European Law JournalWiley · United Kingdom | 4.71Q1 | 1.69 0.94 up from 2015 | 131 | 32% | $3,570 | ||
46The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 4.68Q1 | 1.76 0.32 down from 2015 | 78 | 45% | $3,650 | ||
47Transforming Government People Process and PolicyEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 4.65Q1 | 2.51 0.02 up from 2015 | 82 | 35% | — | ||
48Political Research QuarterlySAGE Publishing · United States | 4.65Q1 | 1.47 0.33 down from 2015 | 171 | 11% | $3,650 | ||
49Police QuarterlySAGE Publishing · United States | 4.65Q1 | 2.26 0.73 up from 2015 | 55 | 16% | $3,650 | ||
50International AffairsOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 4.47Q1 | 1.02 1.23 down from 2015 | 396 | 8% | $4,936 |
Subfields of Social Sciences, with Political Science and International Relations highlighted.
- Sociology and Political Science1,233
- Education677
- Political Science and International Relations308
- Communication68
- Gender Studies63
- Health52
- Public Administration51
- Safety Research51
- Law46
- Transportation46
- Linguistics and Language45
- Library and Information Sciences43
- Urban Studies42
- Demography41
- Anthropology40
- Geography, Planning and Development27
- Cultural Studies10
- Development4
- General Social Sciences3
- Human Factors and Ergonomics1
- Archeology0
- Life-span and Life-course Studies0
Journals
Citations made in 2016. Corpus-wide, 77.2% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
92 additional Political Science and International Relations journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2013–2015, at least 80% of them with a subfield, and a positive world-average expectation. Ranks are within the whole category; filters hide rows without re-ranking. OJR excludes self-citations.
At a glance
Indicator year: 2016. Publication window: 2013–2015. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 308
- Window papers (baseline)
- 235,982 +17.3% from indicator year 2013
- Median OJR
- 1.92 +7.5% from indicator year 2013
- Rising journals (2025)
- 18
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2013–2015 in all journals of the world-average baseline, including non-core journals, counted by each paper’s own subfield. They are not the papers of the ranked journals alone.
| Measure | Year series | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranked journals | 185 | 187 | 198 | 211 | 222 | 236 | 243 | 248 | 255 | 260 | 270 | 279 | 287 | 287 | 294 | 301 | 308 | 318 | 321 | 326 | 332 | 333 | 339 | 334 | 334 | 322 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 87,090 | 92,551 | 99,427 | 106,761 | 113,825 | 122,173 | 130,947 | 139,764 | 148,869 | 159,463 | 170,900 | 180,910 | 191,534 | 201,200 | 210,369 | 223,416 | 235,982 | 245,820 | 247,938 | 251,957 | 262,579 | 278,323 | 289,523 | 291,064 | 289,519 | 294,162 | |
| Median OJR | 0.81 | 0.99 | 0.90 | 1.09 | 1.12 | 1.31 | 1.27 | 1.42 | 1.603 | 1.68 | 1.77 | 1.74 | 1.73 | 1.78 | 1.69 | 1.83 | 1.92 | 1.87 | 1.723 | 1.85 | 1.67 | 1.71 | 1.602 | 1.63 | 1.52 | 1.718 |
How to read these rankings
- OJR, the OpenJournalRank Indicator
- A field-normalized 3-year citation impact, computed from OpenAlex with the NCI3 method. It divides the citations a journal’s papers received by the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and 2.00 means twice as many citations as expected. Because it is normalized, it can be compared across fields. Read the methodology
- Quartiles
- Q1 to Q4 split the ranked journals of the list you are viewing into four equal groups by OJR. A journal’s quartile depends on the list: the same journal can be Q1 in its subfield and Q2 among all journals.
- Impact factor (2-year)
- Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is easy to compare with familiar impact factors but is not field-normalized, so compare it only within a field. It is not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. Why it differs from the Journal Impact Factor
- Rank ranges
- Each rank in the latest year carries a likely range from 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers. Where two journals’ ranges overlap, the data cannot tell them apart, so treat neighbouring ranks as ties.